USDA looking into research
animal deaths at University of Michigan

Please contact the USDA to insist on a major fine for University of
Michigan for the negligence which killed a hamster, a baboon, and a
guinea pig.
Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer
USDA/APHIS/AC
920 Main Campus Drive, Suite 2000
Raleigh, NC 27606
(919) 855-7100
Betty.J.Goldentyer@usda.gov

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Animal Welfare
Act, says it is "looking into" four incidents at the University of
Michigan involving research animals.

The agency says that's not the same as a formal investigation.

The USDA is acting on a complaint by an animal rights group, SAEN
(Stop Animal Exploitation NOW) which demands the maximum fine against
the University for the deaths of several research animals, including the
death of a baboon.

The baboon accidently strangled itself on a recreational device in
its cage. Other incidents include a hamster that got loose and drowned
in a floor drain, a rabbit that got loose after surgery and hurt itself,
and a guinea pig that had to be euthanized after an emergency surgery by
an improperly trained employee.

The incidents happened between 2011 and 2013.

Meanwhile, the University self-reported the incidents long ago to
another agency, the National Institutes of Health.

The NIH has its own policy for the ethical treatment of animals in
NIH-funded research.

NIH says the university took appropriate action -- in the case of the
baboon, the same kind of recreational device was removed from other
primates' cages -- and the cases have been closed.